capacity

American  

[kuh-pas-i-tee] / kəˈpæs ɪ ti /

noun

• capacities
  plural

1. the ability to receive or contain.

   This hotel has a large capacity.

2. the maximum amount or number that can be received or contained; cubic contents; volume.

   The inn is filled to capacity.

   The gasoline tank has a capacity of 20 gallons.

   Synonyms:

   amplitude

3. power of receiving impressions, knowledge, etc.; mental ability.

   the capacity to learn calculus.

   Synonyms:

   talent, endowment

4. actual or potential ability to perform, yield, or withstand.

   He has a capacity for hard work.

   The capacity of the oil well was 150 barrels a day.

   She has the capacity to go two days without sleep.

   Synonyms:

   capability, competence, adequacy, aptitude

5. quality or state of being susceptible to a given treatment or action.

   Steel has a high capacity to withstand pressure.

6. position; function; role.

   He served in the capacity of legal adviser.

7. legal qualification.

8. Electricity.

   1. capacitance.

   2. maximum possible output.

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adjective

1. reaching maximum capacity.

   a capacity audience;

   a capacity crowd.

capacity British  

/ kəˈpæsɪtɪ /

noun

1. the ability or power to contain, absorb, or hold

2. the amount that can be contained; volume

   a capacity of six gallons

3. 1. the maximum amount something can contain or absorb (esp in the phrase filled to capacity )

   2. ( as modifier )

      a capacity crowd

4. the ability to understand or learn; aptitude; capability

   he has a great capacity for Greek

5. the ability to do or produce (often in the phrase at capacity )

   the factory's output was not at capacity

6. a specified position or function

   he was employed in the capacity of manager

7. a measure of the electrical output of a piece of apparatus such as a motor, generator, or accumulator

8. electronics a former name for capacitance

9. computing

   1. the number of words or characters that can be stored in a particular storage device

   2. the range of numbers that can be processed in a register

10. the bit rate that a communication channel or other system can carry

11. legal competence

    the capacity to make a will

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• capacities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of capacity

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English capacite, capasite, from Middle French, from Latin capācitāt-, stem of capācitās “ability, understanding,” equivalent to capāci- (stem of capāx “confident, fit, roomy,” equivalent to cap(ere) “to take, seize” + -āx, adjective suffix) + -tās -ty ²

Explanation

Capacity describes your ability to do something or the amount something can hold. If your bird cage is at full capacity, you can't stuff one more feathered friend in there without causing birdie claustrophobia. From the Latin word capacitatem meaning “breadth, capacity,” capacity is a noun that in the simplest sense means "ability" or "capability": the capability of a room to hold a certain number of people, the ability of a law to change crime rates, your ability to pick up foreign languages. You might hear about factories working at "full capacity" — that means at full speed, producing as much as they possibly can.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

capacity capacities

Next week, US officials will also push to address concerns like excess industrial capacity, promoting stronger economic growth and building reliable supply chains for critical resources like energy.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Exporters are seeking alternative routes, but “those routes are unlikely to offset the port capacity lost at Odesa and Novorossiysk,” Payen said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

But it also noted the "significant resource and policy questions they raise", including electricity demand, grid capacity, water use, land requirements, biodiversity and impacts on local communities.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

“Keeping production infrastructure active and investing in California’s capacity to support film and television is essential to our long-term competitiveness,” California Film Commission Executive Director Colleen Bell said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

The crowd that had turned out here in the Grand Dame, the crowd that had filled it to capacity, were demons.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

"It really upends a theory that says that symbolic rule induction is not possible without linguistic capacities," says Kean.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

This summer there were 16 host cities with stadiums having capacities ranging from 43,000 to 81,000.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

New York’s temporary ban applies to construction of large data centers with capacities of at least 50 megawatts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

For others, including retired state employees speaking in their individual capacities, the planned operation is long overdue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

It is a standard ploy of opponents of relativism to argue that we all share certain commonsensical capacities for reasoning, and thus we can all recognize better knowledge when we see it.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• capability
• competence
• efficiency
• facility
• power
• readiness
• skill
• strength
• talent